A senior Bahraini official criticized the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal on Sunday, saying it had “fueled crises across the Middle East.”
Speaking during a press briefing in Jerusalem, Sheikh Abdulla bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s undersecretary for international relations, said that his country had hoped the JCPOA “would open up a new page for Iran and the region,” Ynet reported.
Al Khalifa referred to Iran’s attempts to destabilize Bahrain, where a Sunni royal family rules over a Shi’ite Muslim majority (Iran is a Shi’ite Muslim country). Iran, he said, supports extremists and engages in drug, weapons and explosives smuggling and blamed the Islamic Republic for the deaths of dozens of Bahraini civilians and security personnel.
“The nuclear deal focused only on the nuclear issue, but ignored other issues that troubled the region,” said Al Khalifa. “When you look at the crises in the Middle East, you can see Iran’s fingerprints everywhere. Unfortunately, the agreement did not address Iran’s aggressive behavior and its ballistic-missile program.”
Al Khalifa, who is responsible for relations with Israel at the Bahraini Foreign Ministry, arrived in Israel on Sunday for a four-day working visit. This is his third visit to Israel, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Al Khalifa met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday, and is scheduled also to meet with the prime minister and foreign minister.